Epilogue
by jayer
Summary: Joe's Carroll book is almost over. or is it? post The Final Chapter
1. Chapter 1

Mike walked into the offices. They were sparsely furnished, mostly tables where boxes of evidence from the other sites was already being brought in. Several maps were pinned up on the rolling bulletin board, pins marking the locations of the mansion, the club, the boot camp and so on. Wires were running from the wall, waiting for the computers that would be arriving shortly.

He took a moment to appreciate the silence, knowing it wasn't going to last. Any minute the rest of the evidence was going to be delivered, from Havenport, from the lighthouse. Soon, Mitchell and Turner and a horde of agents and techs would be filling the area, combing through everything. Carroll was dead, it was just a matter of waiting for the ink to dry. But his followers were still out there.

And Mike Weston had just gone from the youngest member of the profiling division to the youngest agent ever put in charge of an investigation, a multi person manhunt no less. It was a bittersweet achievement gained only due to Donovan's injury and Parker's death.

Debra Parker. Mike's breath caught for a moment. She was the first agent death he'd ever experienced up close and personal. He felt numb with the thought that he was never going to see her again. Never talk to her, learn from her. Ryan would disappear with Claire and Joey into WitSec but there was always the shot that when this was over they would come back. Perhaps Ryan would even teach at the Academy. He'd be a perfect choice. He'd already talk Mike more in the few weeks they had worked together than the Academy had taught him in almost two years of training.

There was a small inner office, just a desk and an old couch. Seemed hardly fitting for an Acting Supervisory Special Agent. But Mike wasn't one to need much. He dropped his overnight bag on the couch and hung his jacket on the back of the desk chair.

The whole conversation still hung in his thoughts.

_Ryan and Claire were barely away in the helicopter when his phone rang. He recognized the prefix as the Bureau's main exchange and wasn't surprised to find it was Director Franklin himself on the other end. This was after all a high press case and the Bureau would give it major priority and handling. Nor was he surprised that Nick Donovan was effectively benched for the next few weeks due to the injury to his eye. He'd be lucky if it wasn't permanent. So he wouldn't be returning anytime soon._

_What did surprise Mike was that the Director wasn't calling to inform him of what senior agent was being put in Donovan's place. He was giving that task to Mike. It was unheard of. At least as far as Mike knew. _

_"I spoke to Nick Donovan and he tells me you are more than capable of overseeing the team in his stead. And Agent Parker had given you more than one excellent evaluation including one when you returned to duty after your attack."_

_It was in some respects a demotion since they were most certainly just going to be doing data analysis, pointing the Marshals service and locals where to find the remaining group members. But it meant Mike could see things through to the end. He could finish this, for Debra. _

_"I have a couple of requests, sir." Mike knew he was being a bit out of line but being around Ryan had rubbed off a touch. He hoped in a good way._

_"Requests, Agent Weston?"_

_"Yes Sir. First I'd like to handle the arrangements for Claire and Joey Matthews myself. And I'd like clearance to offer Ryan Hardy protection as well."_

_"You think Hardy would take an offer?"_

_"I think Ryan Hardy won't trust Claire and Joey's safety to anyone other than himself."_

_"I suppose you think I should leave him deputized?"_

_"I hadn't thought about it but it wouldn't be a bad idea."_

_"You have your clearance. But I want these arrangements settled by the debriefing tomorrow. And then I want your full attention on wrapping this up."_

_"Of course sir." _

_"And the other request?"_

_"I'd like to be informed about who is going to be placed on this team before they show up. And I'd like permission to state objections."_

_"You hardly have the experience to demand staffing oversight."_

_"I'm not asking for it, Sir. I just want to feel free to state concerns and know that they will be listened to, even to make suggestions. The final vote will remain yours and if you overrule me then I'll deal with that. Even if the vote is to put someone else in charge. I just don't want any surprises. Not to mention the security concern of having someone turn up unannounced."_

_There was a pause. Mike swallowed, nervous. He was definitely pulling a Ryan Hardy and it may have backfired hard. _

_"I assume you have no objections to Diedre Mitchell or Scott Turner." The Director stated. _

_"No objections, Sir. If they want to remain I'd happy to have them."_

_"Good. I"m also putting Kate Roberts on the team."_

_"Roberts. I thought she was on a case with Interpol."_

_"Wrapped it. She's on a plane to DC as we speak. She'll met you at Quantico."_


	2. Chapter 2

The knock on the door startled Mike and he realized he'd dozed off.

"Mitchell." Mike smiled.

"You look like hell," The older woman smiled. "You should go home and get some sleep."

"As soon as I get this worked out." Mike yawned. "Did you need something?"

"Just wanted to give you an update."

"Go for it."

"Computer stations are all up and running, same with phones. Turner got a call from New York. Ryan and Claire are fine. DC team gave the all quiet on Joey."

"Great."

"Ident called. DNA and fingerprint comparisons came in. The body is Joe Carroll."

"Yes." Mike nodded excitedly. "Has it gone public yet?"

"Press conference in an hour."

"Good. Go home. Sleep in your own bed. Kiss your family. Be back bright and early."

"I'm just going to finish organizing some of these boxes."

"Sticking around to make sure I don't spend the night."

"Of course not." Mitchell said with a smirk.

Mike perked up when he heard his name being said. He stretched as he got up from behind his desk.

"Agent Roberts." Mike greeted the woman who approached his office.

"Agent Weston." She replied with a nod. Kate Roberts was slender and a little on the short side. But Mike knew from experience that she was tough. She had two older brothers who were what some would call "scrappers" and she had learned to hold her own. She was smart and very skilled with computers, including a few tricks that would get her tossed in jail if she was ever caught doing them for anyone but law enforcement. Which was exactly why she'd been recruited two years before to go undercover for Interpol. It was a huge opportunity for the young agent, something Mike had been less willing to admit when his girlfriend told him about it.

"Nice hair." Mike grinned at the jet black mess Kate had pinned up, the multicolored streaks still showing. "Part of the punk hacker cover?"

"Yes." Kate laughed. "And first chance I have I'm going to a salon and getting it bleached out."

"I thought you hated the dirty blonde."

"Two years like this and I'm dying to be bland again."

"You've been briefed on the situation."

"I got a summary of the case before I left London. And I am familiar with the news coverage."

"Good. Agent Mitchell can get you access to the full records to get you up to sped. We've just gotten confirmation on the body, press should have the details soon."

"I understand you're handling the preparations with WitSec on the ex wife and her son."

"And Ryan Hardy."

"Don't trust anyone but yourself?"

"I consider Hardy a friend. And Carroll's people already tried to break an agent with access to Claire Matthew's first protocol so I want to be sure this one is very thorough."

"I might have a few ideas in that regard. And a few useful contacts." Kate smiled.

"I was hoping you'd say that." Mike gestured into the office. "Feels like old times."

"Speaking of old times. I wanted to say I'm sorry about how things got left when I left. "

"I'd made a decision for my career without thinking about what it meant for us so it was only fair you did the same."

"Perhaps but I didn't have to be such a total bitch about it. I said some really nasty things you didn't deserve. I'd wanted to tell you that for ages."

"Its in the past. Forgotten. Time to deal with the present."


	3. Chapter 3

They worked, only the sound of a television broadcasting the news reports confirming Carroll's death and the occassional ringing phone breaking the silence, for several hours.

"Okay that should do it." Kate looked up from her computer. "Redundant arrangements for contact finished."

"Do you think this is overkill?" Mike flinched as he drank the last of a very cold cup of coffee.

"Twelve different, interchangeable scenarios with six different contacts in four different countries all with their own multiple systems. Cayman's accounts for the money." Kate shrugged. "Probably. But given that they got in deep enough to know you had clearance to know the information about Mrs Matthews location, I'd say some paranoia is in order."

"You knew?"

"That you were beaten within an inch of your life and practically gutted. Yes I knew. Even on loan to Interpol I still had my connections. And like I said, I wanted to tell you for a while. When I heard you almost died I knew the first thing I had to do when the case was over was come tell you. I just got lucky the Director offered me this assignment. Although he didn't tell me you were going to be the boss until after I said yes." Kate laughed.

A knock interrupted them.

"Mitchell. You haven't gone home yet?" Mike scowled. "Diedre Mitchell, Agent Kate Roberts."

"We met." Kate nodded at the older woman.

"Official report of Carroll's identification." Mitchell held out a folder.

"I see the Bureau still insists on killing trees." Kate laughed.

Mike flipped it open. The file contained several photos of the burned body. Copies of the finger prints lifted from the remains along with copies of Carroll's prints from his original file, same with DNA and dental records.

"May I?" Kate nodded to the file. Mike flipped it over for her to take a look.

"Rather gruesome."

"Couldn't have happened to a nastier guy." Mitchell said, no attempts to hide her disdain.

"I'll drink to that." Mike smirked. "But not tonight. Everything is ready for the debriefing so lets all go home, get some sleep, clean clothes blah blah."

"What the hell?" Kate murmured, her eyes still on the file. "That can't be right."

"What can't be right?"

"These tags. They can't be right."

"You lost me."

"The copies of the Carroll's original identification materials. They don't make sense."

Mike looked up at Mitchell. She shrugged.

"Let me see." Mike pulled the file over for a closer look. "Chain of evidence says the copies are from Joe Carroll's original arrest file. Taken when he was brought into custody in 2003. Digital and visual comparison by two different techs confirm a match."

"That's what doesn't make sense. These can't be Joe Carroll. Or at least not Joe Carroll in 2003."

"Maybe I'm just way too tired. But I don't follow."

"What do you know about how identified materials are registered and searched."

"Not a lot, that was your game."

"It's a kind of hash function." Mitchell injected. The visuals are recorded using a designation system that translates the images into a alphanumeric code. The code entries can be searched like any other data."

"That's right. With DNA the entries are broken down so that you can search by individual locii, typically starting with those that designate gender and racial profile and drilling down."

"That's only useful when you're doing a blind search. You can quickly eliminate huge chunks of the database. We were doing a match analysis against a known sample."

"More a match against the hash recorded in the database for the sample. Along with the photographic images which should allow for a visual confirmation. Provided they're correct."

"You're saying these aren't right. These images don't go with the hash in the record."

"I don't know if they don't. I don't know how to translate the hash into the record. Not in the blink of an eye.

"I'm saying that this set of records can't be from Joe Carroll's original arrest record."

Mike found his stomach turning over. If Kate was right, if the records weren't from the original arrest. The implications were horrifying.

"Kate, are you certain?"

"Positive. All records contain an entry code that designates whether it was hand entered or digitally entered. The whole reason for including photos of the original cards and DNA gels was because someone could make a mistake during the entry work. If something goes to trial it's compared to the original cards and so on to be absolutely certain.

"The code on these records shows it was direct entry, digital analysis. But direct digital scanning of fingerprints didn't start until 2006 and DNA wasn't direct entered until 2008, well after Carroll's arrest.

"I can't say for certain that Joe Carroll is still alive. Perhaps he's dead and they just haven't found the body yet. But this isnt him."

"Shit." Mike yelled. "Mitchell, call the Marshals, tell them we do not have confirmation Carroll is dead." MItchell was out of the room and on the phone before he finished the sentence.

"That's why the other guy."

"What guy?"

"Claire said there was a man at the light house when she woke up. Someone paid to drive a boat up and then attacked. Broke his ankle so he couldn't run. Joe killed the guy in front of her. The tests to verify the body was Carroll's were to be sure it wasn't this guy."

"So Joe finds a guy who is in the DNA database with a close enough appearance match that no one would suspect the results were wrong. Somehow gets the identify tags on the records swapped so this guy's DNA comes up as his. That's some serious computer work."

"More than one of his followers has hacker in them. So it's not a shock."

"Mike. We have a situation."

"What is it?"

"Joey's fine. Marshal's are preparing to move him within ten."

"But . . ."

"There was no answer at Ryan's. The on duty officers broke down the door. They say no one got past them. But Ryan and Claire have both been stabbed. Paramedics are on the way. It doesn't look good."

Mike closed his eyes. An image floated into his mind. Black, with three words "To Be Continued."


End file.
